China's new luxury

28 September 2010 By Wei Gu

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett may struggle to rustle up philanthropic spirits on their tour of China. The country’s billionaires are still insecure about their wealth, and trustworthy charities are lacking. Yet as China’s wealth gap widens, more generosity might be a good idea.

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Warren Buffett, the head of investment group Berkshire Hathaway, and Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, invited about 50 of China's superrich to a banquet to be held on Sept. 29. The two are on a worldwide mission to persuade the rich to donate more of their wealth. China is their second stop after the United States.

A small number of people declined the invitation to attend the dinner, while many of the invitees called to ask whether they would be required to pledge a donation at the dinner, said the head of the China programme of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to media reports.

China had 64 billionaires in U.S. dollar terms in 2009, second only to the United States, home to 403 billionaires, according to Forbes.

Chinese giving totalled $5 billion in 2009, according to China's Ministry of Civil Affairs. Americans donated $303 billion to charity in 2009, according to estimates by Giving USA.

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